There are many different ways in which you can work towards advancing your career; however, not all of these may be pleasant. Sometimes, you will have to make sacrifices in order to advance your career, and you have to decide whether your career is worth these sacrifices.

Here are some sacrifices that you may be expected to make in order to do so.

1. Free Time

It’s common for those hunting for a new job to lose a great deal of free time during their search. It can take you hours upon hours to discover jobs that you would like to apply for, and even longer to fill out forms or send off CVs in order to apply for each job. If there’s one thing you’re going to be short of while applying for jobs, it’s going to be free time.

2. Sleep

After you’ve applied for several jobs, you are likely to find that several of the companies will get back to you with information on interview dates and times. Once you’ve accepted/arranged several interviews, you may lose a lot of sleep while worrying about each interview; even more sleep will be lost to the hours that you will put into researching each company and memorizing answers to questions while showcasing your knowledge of what they do.

3. Commute

It’s also common for people to sacrifice more of their time due to a lengthy commute to and from work. We all have our ideal location for a job (5-minute walk) but sometimes the ideal job can be in a less than ideal location. To progress in your career, there could very well be a step that includes a considerable commute.

4. Home

Sometimes, job opportunities will come along that will ask you to sacrifice your home and relocate in order to progress within your career. This would be asking a lot of you, having to say goodbye to friends and family but it depends on how much you value the opportunity. This type of sacrifice particularly large but it is not the end of the world as you may even move to a better house or a better area by relocating. Although, moving all of your furniture and belongings can be arduous, remember to stay positive and think of it as just another of life’s challenges.

5. Evenings And Weekends

Every company loves an employee that is willing to work additional hours when needed. Sometimes, that deadline is bearing down on you and there just aren’t enough hours in the working day. If you’re looking to snag that internal promotion, working evenings and weekends will do wonders for your reputation. However, don’t let others abuse the fact that you are willing to work harder and stay longer than others within the company.

6. Position

It’s not unusual to find yourself aligned to a small business but you are now looking for a bigger company where you can push your potential further. To make this happen, you may have to sacrifice a career progression in the short term in order to get your foot in the door of an excellent company. For obvious reasons, companies are far more willing to promote internally and many will reward those who show loyalty and commitment.

7. Salary

Generally, we link career progression with salary improvement but there can be times when one doesn’t come with the other. Not all companies work to the same salary scale, so do not be put off by a decrease if the job has the serious potential to push your career forward. Altering how you view job opportunities and taking into consideration the long term perspective will allow you to showcase your skills and provide the platform to earn an even higher salary years down the line.

Success has never been easy and it always comes at a price. If you really want to fulfill your potential and challenge yourself, making sacrifices will be inevitably be a part of the process but in the long run, they’ll pay dividends.